Reviews

Forever Employable: How to Stop Looking for Work and Let Your Next Job Find You by Jeff Gothelf

thewilyfilipino's review

5.0

Sometimes my wife and I get into these conversations where I tell her about great advice I received, whether I read it in a book, or heard it from a colleague.

And she would say, “But I told you that before!” Which was sometimes true—I just didn’t recognize it as great advice then.

Sometimes it’s because of the way the advice is presented or framed, whether as a gentle suggestion or a swift kick in the pants.

Sometimes you hear something four or five times but the sixth time’s the charm.

Sometimes you’re just not ready to hear things yet. I’m reminded here of Nick Cave, on songwriting, emphases mine:

“You are not the ‘Great Creator’ of your songs, you are simply their servant, and the songs will come to you when you have adequately prepared yourself to receive them. They are not inside you, unable to get out; rather, they are outside of you, unable to get in.”

Some fortuitous combination allowed Jeff Gothelf’s Forever Employable to get in. Some of it has to do with my own receptivity, after being well-primed by some great managers of mine, and excellent career coaches along the way. But a lot of it has to do with Gothelf’s lucid, pragmatic style, and the way he gives you pointers to put into practice immediately.

[See the rest of the entry at my blog, The Wily Filipino.]

hayo's review against another edition

1.0

yet again someone thought it was a great idea to publish a (tiny) book about their own experiences. I should reinstate my rule to not buy books that have under 200 pages (and authors under 50 years old). The book lacks depth and context. It is about something that sort of worked for this one guy. It isn't very well explored, there's no scientific or source basis for anything he says.

For it's 100 pages it's actually very long; his point could have been made in 10 pages.